Will Fish for Fun is this Saturday, September 11th at the Burlington Waterfront.Bring your kids, ages 2 to 14, for a day of fishing. Registration forms are available at www.willfishforfun.com.
Learn how to fish (some poles available for FREE!), weigh-in your fish for prizes (largest fish, smallest fish, and more). Biggest prize includes a lifetime fishing license. Lunch is available. See you there!
Ready for another quiz on signs? Read on to see how much you know about lighted sign faces!
Below are photos of four different types of internally illuminated signs. Each of them has a different type of face (the portion of the sign that contains its message):
They could have a flat face, pan face, opaque face with push through letters, or an extruded pan face.
Pan forming provides extra rigidity to large faces, making them less prone to “blow out” in high winds, and pan forming also allows the use of thinner light boxes because pan faces push the advertising face out further from the lamps.
An extruded pan face is a pan face with raised lettering and graphics. An opaque face with push-through letters is a solidly colored face and the text portion of the face are dimensional letters that project through the face.
Flat faces are what you see in the majority of lighted sign cabinets. Made from a single piece of acrylic or lexan, the faces are lettered and then slide into the sign cabinet. Flat faces have a more contemporary look and allow graphics to go edge to edge in the box.
These descriptions should make it a whole lot easier for you to match the face types with the photos.
Sign #1 – Flat face
Sign #2 – Extruded pan face and pan face. The top sign is the extruded, and the bottom is a plain pan face.
When the United Way of Chittenden County applied for a Grants for Success award, they requested three trade show displays. The displays would communicate their mission and message to a variety of audiences and bring a new level of professionalism to their organization.
But then they realized something. Trade show displays that could be carried and used at events and conferences were all fine and good, but what they really needed was a single large display with their logo and tagline.
So what they requested instead was a Step and Repeat Wall. Basically, it’s a large, flat display with stretched fabric. The fabric is printed with their logo and tagline. The display contracts to one third its open size, and comes with a carrying case.
Step & repeat walls are commonly used by nonprofit and charitable organizations as a backdrop for photographic sessions at their events. For the United Way, they wanted it as a wall behind a podium.
“The visual is perfect because it brands us in all photographs and any video or footage,” said Bobbe Maynes, Director of Communications and Development. “We do not have to worry about what the facility backdrop is.”
The United Way has used the display for at least one event since receiving it and admit that it’s already working well for them.
“The system is very, very easy to assemble and we think it looks polished and clean,” said Maynes.
When owners John and Lisa Marcus of Sanflorian Cavaliers in Jericho, Vermont, sent us a photo of their beloved Elmo competing in an agility event, we knew this vehicle graphic installation was going to be fun, and novel.
Elmo didn’t disappoint us. We blew him up to mega-size—his owners having captured him in mid-flight: his furry ears behind his head like wings, his soft brown eyes looking forward to the next jump, his paws rising over the bar of the jump.
Apparently, Elmo’s likeness on the Marcus’ RV has made a splash at dog and agility shows they’ve attended. And the initial reason for installing Elmo on the rear of their traveling kennel is that this is part of the Marcus’ advertising budget. What John and Lisa didn’t expect was all the buzz they received after posting Elmo pix on Facebook, and from the conversations they listened to on agility-related email lists.
It’s all proof, however, of the WOW factor vehicle graphics offer. For little relative money, your vehicle—whether it’s a truck, van, or RV—offers advertising value, and just sheer fun.
“I knew it would be advertising dollars well spent,” said Lisa. “But I never expected this. Unbelievable.”
It’s Gaia Day. Or as it’s more commonly known—Earth Day. A holiday without a religious or Hallmark-based tie-in, it’s been celebrated every year since 1970, making it 40 years old this year. It was founded by U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson as a teach-in and is now our annual reminder that this planet needs our attention.
Environmental consciousness and concern is used by businesses as a marketing ploy, studied at the college level (with degrees in all forms of ecology and environmental topics available), made us look at where our food comes from (factory farms, fair trade coffee, migrant workers in low wage jobs), and has overall started a lot of important conversations about Mother Earth.
“Going green” is both easy and hard to do. Bob and I replaced our standard recessed light bulbs with compact fluorescent alternatives in our hallway the other day. We hate the buzzing sound and the harshness of the light they project, but we can be a little uncomfortable with the aesthetics of our hall lighting if the CFs are going to help reduce global warming.
The sign industry is also providing greener alternatives—finally. Bio-Banner material is an interesting sign substrate and differs in significant ways compared to standard banner stock.
The vinyl, while durable for outdoor use as a banner, is biodegraded when land filled. Non-toxic chemicals added to the Bio-Banner formulation help disassemble the polyvinyl chloride structure to create digestible bits of material that is further broken down by microbes into chloride and sodium.
How appropriate is it that there is now a biodegradable alternative for banners, which are often used as temporary signs? Get your banner, market you business, compost it safely.
To celebrate Earth Day, you can order your Bio-Banner with a 10% off discount through Earth Day 2011. That’s a year’s worth of banners that can advertise your event, your business and say Happy Birthday to a loved one while being land filled safely when you're done with it.
Both Green-Up Day Vermont and Mother’s Day are right around the corner. Today is Bio-Banner day. Remember to love your mother.
Linda Corey, Fairfax, Vermont, describes her magnetic signs as a constant form of advertisement. She purchased her first pair from us in August, 1997, and soon found out something amazing. Whether she stopped for gasoline, or at a store to purchase lunch during her travels around VT, NH and NY, people would often ask her for a business card, or about her work as an equine dentist.
When Linda returned to us for a new set of magnets recently, she brought in her floppy and zip discs. Surprise! The technology had changed and Linda learned that floppies and zip discs had gone by the wayside. The good news was that we had her original file that we designed in August of 1997.
The technology, being what it is today, allowed us to produce the magnetics for Linda and have them completed by the next day.
“They are absolutely beautiful and I love the new method and materials used,” said Linda. “I have never ever had a magnet fall off or blow off my vehicles. I travel many, many miles in a year's time through all types of weather and road conditions.”
Linda is smart (Of course—she’s a dentist for horses!): She keeps her magnetic signs clean and after every few car washes, Linda sprays the backs of the signs with furniture polish, cleans the front, and wipes them dry. She says it helps them repel grime. She is correct!
(The photographic image is a picture of Linda’s childhood horse.)
It's not often that you can boast being included in an article for a national publication, but this month, Eddie Wieber wrote an article for Sign & Digital Graphics magazine that included information from yours truly.
The article is on channel letters. Channel who? It's a sign industry term for, well, I'm going to hold you in suspense for a minute and test your sign knowledge.
"I 'heart' my sign," a customer told me recently, using air quotes around the word heart. Sally had ordered the A-frame as a way to lead customers into her retail location.
Her shop is in downtown Burlington, Vermont, but a little bit visually out of the way of driving traffic.
www.willfishforfun.com.
So what they requested instead was a Step and Repeat Wall. Basically, it’s a large, flat display with stretched fabric. The fabric is printed with their logo and tagline. The display contracts to one third its open size, and comes with a carrying case.
changed and Linda learned that floppies and zip discs had gone by the wayside. The good news was that we had her original file that we designed in August of 1997. 
It's not often that you can boast being included in an article for a national publication, but this month, Eddie Wieber wrote an article for Sign & Digital Graphics magazine that included information from yours truly.
Paula Diaco
Paula Diaco